This is the first in what has become a sort of German mini-genre—the art’otel. Don’t confuse it with a design hotel, unless you mean a hotel dedicated to and decked out with works by a particular designer (Arne Jacobsen’s SAS Copenhagen comes to mind). An art’otel is not just an artistic hotel, or a self-conscious modern-design hotel, but a sort of cross between a hotel and a gallery, nearly as much an exhibition space as a lodging.
And there’s the rub. Some have found art’otel berlin kudamm to be over-designed, too clever, too modern and whimsical, without enough of the old four-posters and marble bathtubs we expect from a decent hotel. Well, that’s entirely the point. Not to be tedious about it, but one should come here prepared for the daring design, for the artworks, for the experience, as this hotel demands attention.
What’s more, this hotel isn’t dedicated to the work of a minimalist artist, or someone tasteful and decorative—this place belongs (aesthetically speaking) to the late Fluxus artist Wolf Vostell, who began as a painter and migrated through collage, installation, video, performance art and happenings (that least tolerated medium of the Sixties) before finally, in the Eighties and Nineties, making sculptures from whole automobiles. His was an outsize and garish sensibility, and his work has little in common with the sort of quiet background art on display in the average hotel.
The rooms are extremely modern in design, blending Fifties classic designer pieces with newer work by the ubiquitous Philippe Starck. And in contrast to most highly designed hotels, comfort and space are emphasized—beds are large and plush, and the bathrooms are roomy and highly functional, however daring the fixtures.
And perhaps most surprising for this sort of hotel (and the element that will save the experience for disgruntled traditionalists) is the service. It’s incongruous in a place with such iconoclastic looks, but the service is on par with that one finds in Berlin’s more grown-up and classic luxury hotels. So don’t worry: even if modern design unsettles you, and even if the enormous green cactus sculpture frightens you as it lurks behind your barstool, you can rest assured that you will be well taken care of by the art’otel’s staff—and that there won’t be any “happenings” during your stay.
author watson@mouselink.net, source www.tablethotels.com